Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday admitted he was wrong to accuse UEFA of fixing the Champions League draw.

Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday admitted he was wrong to accuse UEFA of fixing the Champions League draw.

Ferguson's weekend claim that high-ranking Uefa officials were determined to stop United reaching next month's final at their own Old Trafford ground and had therefore given them the toughest possible quarter-final draw brought a swift rebuke from the headquarters of Europe's governing body in Nyon.

But after due consideration Ferguson has accepted his analysis of the situation was incorrect.

"I have been assured by Uefa that the draw was fair," he admitted.

"I take their word for it, so I was wrong to say what I did."

However, he felt on safer ground when discussing the Roberto Carlos and David Beckham incidents, and Fifa's decision to provisionally suspend the brilliant Brazilian full-back after clearly shoving the match referee in anger during his country's defeat by Portugal last Wednesday only increased his frustration.

Roberto Carlos was yesterday provisionally suspended from international football by Fifa for pushing referee Alon Yefet in his country's 2-1 friendly defeat in Porto. "At the European Championships three years ago, three Portuguese players were suspended for doing exactly the same thing," said Ferguson, referring to Liverpool's Abel Xavier, who was hit by a nine-month ban from all European competition, and Nuno Gomes and Paulo Bento, who each received in the region of a four-match suspension after their reaction to the concession of a match-deciding extra-time penalty in the semi-final with France.

"I was merely making a point about how powerful Real Madrid are in world football.

"The matter is over now anyway. We don't mind if he plays because that is what we expected anyway."

Ferguson reacted to the idea of Beckham quitting Old Trafford for Madrid with no more than a grunt of disdain.

"You have to wonder about the timing of the stories, which came out immediately after the draw was made," he said.